"Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."
John 12:3
// JESUS ANOINTED AT BETHANY
If ever there was a picture of worship that is truly beautiful it is surely seen in the fragrant offering Mary of Bethany lavished on Jesus one week before the last Passover (Mark 14:3 and John 12:1-8). Jesus arrives in Bethany as a guest at the home of Simon the Leper along with His friend Lazarus who He had raised from the dead. This amazing miracle was enough reason to hold a party and celebrate! So here we find a banquet had been prepared to welcome Jesus. Martha served while Lazarus reclined at the banquet table with Jesus, Who would have been sitting in the seat of honour reserved for Him alone. The setting was relaxed, warm and inviting and no doubt conversation had started to flow. At this point Mary makes her entrance.
Quietly and without drawing attention, Mary presents herself before Jesus bearing a costly gift. Kneeling before Him, Mary breaks the alabaster jar and pours out on His head and feet a perfumed ointment made of pure nard. Mary's tears of love wash over Jesus' feet and using her beautiful hair she tenderly wipes His feet dry.
Some of the religious people present then criticized Mary, accusing her of being wasteful. They were offended by the extravagance of her offering. The perfume was known to be worth at least a year's wages and some thought it should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus however defends Mary and declares, "She has done a beautiful thing to Me," for "it was intended that she should save this perfume to anoint Me for My burial." (Matthew 26:10,12) We are then told, "the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."
// A THANKFUL HEART!
A banquet was prepared in Jesus' honour. This speaks volumes. It means that time, energy and thought was lavished in advance to prepare to bless Jesus and bring glory to Him. God notices when we do this too! The time that we spend in giving of our gifts and ourselves to prepare to bless Jesus in worship is precious to the Lord. We prepare the way for Him to draw others and us into an intimate place of worship. A loving worshiper will joyfully create a warm and inviting forum to meet with Jesus and make Him feel welcome. The gift of a thankful heart! (Song of Songs 1:12) When we invite the Lord to a banquet in His honour He will come!
// A BOLD HEART!
Mary's position at Jesus' feet revealed the posture of her heart. Mary's heart attitude in approaching Jesus was both meek and bold! Mary bowed in an attitude of humility and surrender. Her position was one of profound reverence, thankfulness and adoration. Mary was focused on Jesus. She had set aside worldly cares and distractions to give Jesus her whole attention. Mary was not afraid of man, being unconcerned about breaking with accepted cultural etiquette and she had only one thought in mind. (Proverbs 18:16) Her heart's desire was to bring a gift worthy of the King!
// A BEAUTIFUL HEART!
The alabaster jar speaks of the costly value of its contents and it had to be broken to release the fragrance of the perfume. In this we see a beautiful picture of God's grace to us in Christ and how greatly He values us even when we think we have nothing of worth to offer Him. Jesus was broken on the cross so that we could be made whole! When all we have to give the Lord is brokenness He sees the potential to create something incredibly beautiful. Nothing however broken is ever wasted, when surrendered to God in worship! When the broken pieces of our life are smeared with the blood of Jesus and anointed with the Holy Spirit the fragrance of His Presence and character is released in and through us (Isaiah 61:1-3). Jesus exchanges His beauty for our ashes!
// AN EXTRAVAGANT HEART!
(A costly and sacrificial offering). In presenting Jesus with an alabaster jar of pure nard Mary was declaring her love for Him in a deeply symbolic way. In pouring the nard on Jesus' head, Mary acknowledged Him as Lord and King in His royal position and authority, dominion and power. In anointing Jesus' feet Mary acknowledged Jesus as Saviour - His suffering and sacrifice.
Though rare now, for centuries nard was believed to be the fragrance of the Garden of Eden and came to represent any perfume provided it was exquisite. Biblically speaking nard is a symbol of the intimate nature of the Bride's love so in choosing nard Mary also acknowledged Jesus as her Bridegroom (Song of Songs 4:14). This was a lavish and extravagant gift offered wholeheartedly that mirrored prophetically the supreme sacrifice Jesus was to give of Himself on the cross for His Bride!
// A TRUE HEART!
Jesus sees through appearances to the heart. The religious people were offended: their criticism was in reality a mask disguising a stingy, self-centred, self-worshiping attitude of heart. Jesus knew they weren't truly interested in helping the poor. They were thinking of their own purse. Imagine if you were to spend $50,000 (the average person's yearly wage today) on a single jar of perfume and then in one passionate act of worship you poured it out on Jesus - how do you think people in your church would react? Sadly, some would be offended.
We don't need to be concerned though about the opinions of others. Sometimes, the Lord may lead us to do something and not everyone will understand. In fact we mightn't understand either. Jesus sees our obedience and He sees the heart motive behind everything we do and say. He loves worship that is sacrificial and wholehearted!
On a previous occasion Mary had again been criticized for sitting at Jesus feet and giving Him her whole attention (Luke 10:38-42)! This time it was Mary's sister Martha pointing the finger accusing her of being lazy and irresponsible. Jesus again defended Mary and said to Martha, "You are worried and upset about many things but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her." Jesus delights to be with us in long, lingering fellowship!
// A CONSECRATED HEART!
It was intended she should save this perfume. Mary's gift had a purpose. Without necessarily being aware of the significance of her actions, Mary's gift prepared Jesus for His burial. Nard is known as healing oil and it was used as one of the eleven herbs for the Incense in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. As such nard was known to be set apart for sacred use. It was therefore highly appropriate for Jesus to be anointed in this way!
Sprinkled with the sacrificial blood of Jesus we are likewise set apart for the King. From the beginning of time before we were even born, God intended (planned and purposed) that our whole heart, life and worship should be saved for Him (Ephesians 1:4,5,11). We are created in the image of God and for His pleasure - we are made to worship and everything we have and are was intended to be set apart, consecrated and saved for Him alone. We are anointed in Christ and with the Holy Spirit to fulfil God's purposes and to bring glory to Him!
// A FRAGRANT HEART!
The whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. This was a divine fragrance! Nard is intensely aromatic oil. In pouring out the entire contents of the jar on Jesus, it is no surprise that the perfume of Mary's worship filled the house! Jesus is the fragrance of our worship: His holiness, love, joy, peace, grace - all the attributes of His heart, character and matchless worth! - His beauty, majesty and splendour! Jesus is the perfume of heaven (Ephesians 5:2)! As we the Bride, lavish our love and praise unreservedly on Jesus our Bridegroom King, His pure, sweet fragrance will permeate the whole house of God and captivate the whole world (Isaiah 6:3)! In His eyes - it is a beautiful thing!
// JESUS, THE FRAGRANCE OF WORSHIP
Take a moment with me to consider:
Before coming to the Lord in worship do you invest time, effort and thought to prepare Him a banquet? Using your creative God-given gifts, how can you prepare to bring Jesus a sumptuous love-offering, a rich feast of praise fit only for the King of Kings? Do you desire to linger with Him and soak in His Presence? Are you willing to put aside everything to give the Lord your whole attention and to wait on Him indefinitely?
How about the posture of your heart? Are you ready to pour out everything and to give Him sacrificial worship that is lavish, extravagant and costly? Do you long to saturate Jesus in worship, to pour out the perfume of your love on Him? To simply come and sit at His feet and be listening for His voice to speak? Have you come to the foot of the cross and with one glance of His eyes found yourself unravelling and your heart undone? As His bride did you realise that's the affect you have on the Lord (Song of Songs 4:9 & 6:5)?
Has the Holy Spirit moved the stone from your heart and transformed it into liquid love (Ezekiel 36:26)? Have you been swept away by the magnitude of Jesus' sacrifice and compelled by adoration found yourself drawn beyond words to a deeper place of worship where tears of love, gratitude and joy well up to overflow and wash the Saviour's feet? In what ways have you been broken and chosen as His Beloved to pour out the fragrance of Jesus in worship (2 Corinthians 2:14,15 & 4:7-10)?
// A WORSHIPPING HEART!
As we know on this occasion Jesus was lavished with love and honoured through the gift of hospitality. The same principles at work here can be applied to all of our life and expressions of worship. Whatever our giftings, whether we are serving at church or work or studying, at home raising a family, on a mission or spending time in rest - everything we do is worship if done wholeheartedly unto the Lord. Even if we're not a member of a worship or ministry team we can all bless Jesus because worship is really all about the attitude of our heart! We can't all be like Martha or Lazarus! However, we can all have a heart like Mary!
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart."
Deuteronomy 6:5a
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
Proverbs 4:23